Anno Zombus Year 1 (Book 3): March

by Dave Rowlands

  After an hour of silence, other than the mighty engine of The Nightmare, we saw a single, solitary Dead one walking along the side of the road, out of easy reach of our blades, so Apocalypse Girl drove past without another thought. I knew her well enough that I realised she wasn't that concerned by the mutant. Her mind was on her dream.

  A while later we hit a barricade. Somebody had surrounded an entire town with debris, overturned cars, furniture, whatever they could find. The dried blood caking everything spoke volumes of their failure. Apocalypse Girl drove through an already weakened part of the wall, and I flew up into the roof turret as we caught the attention of the Dead that had made the place home.

  Having put down absolute shitloads of Dead over the last few months, using many various different methods, I must say this turret was satisfying. The noise was kind of ridiculous, but the fact that each and every round that hit a Dead one rendered the portion of flesh struck non-existent more than made up for it. The slaughter was over in less than a minute.

  noon

  The Colonel insisted that we check each and every house for supplies, not because we were running low, but simply because everybody here had died from being torn to pieces and eaten rather than starvation, so therefore it was likely that there remained something of value. At the very least we were able to get a lot of fresh water, also a lot of canned goods.

  Many of the houses still contained Dead, so Apocalypse Girl, Redbeard and I went house-to-house with our melee weapons, bashing and carving up heads of the Dead. In several of these we discovered what had once been fresh food, though now it more resembled black ooze than whatever it had been on the plates. The Dead had rampaged through here overnight, leaving some of their ranks behind but it appeared as though the main group had moved on long since.

  One house in particular had been so severely boarded up from the inside that we just couldn't resist. We burst through the front door, swatted down the pair of Dead that came at us as we entered, then discovered another door, boarded up from this end. After prying the hammer from the hands of the Dead that still carried it, and removing the nails, Apocalypse Girl swung the door open.

  All that remained in the room was a young woman, long Dead, and the remains of her baby, that she had feasted on after succumbing to the bite on her ankle. Apocalypse Girl fled the building entirely, I could hear her retching outside. Redbeard raised the hammer, bringing it down hard on the poor Dead girl's head.

  As I went back outside, Apocalypse Girl straightened herself up a little. “Sorry about that,” she said, “It's just … that baby …” then the memory of the sight made her double over once more. Feeling more than a little queasy myself I stood behind her, rubbing her back. Redbeard exited the building, shook his head when he saw the two of us, then moved on to the next house. Sister followed him, cricket bat slung over one shoulder, motioning to us to head back to The Nightmare.

  evening

  Before we left the town, we piled the carcasses of the slain Dead into the young woman's house, then Apocalypse Girl insisted on torching the place. We poured one of our spare canisters of fuel out all over the place, then she pulled out one of her many lighters, and up it went. The entire house took flame in under a minute, and as we pulled out into the road the blaze had reached neighbouring houses. We probably ended up burning the entire town down.

  After a couple of kilometres darkness fell, and we stopped for the night. Apocalypse Girl finally remembered her phone. The Smart Couple had sent a message saying that they had definite confirmation of a large group of survivors in Canberra itself. Whether this was what remained of the government remained to be seen, but they had mentioned that there was a large military presence there. According to the limited satellite coverage they had managed to hack into, the city itself had been more or less turned into a fortress.

  The Colonel beamed at this news, though the rest of us felt a little more concerned. A chill went up my spine as Apocalypse Girl's hand tightened on my own. This wasn't necessarily good news. I had the impression that we were headed into a lion's den, and the cats were fucking hungry...

  March 24 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  The morning air lay heavy with smoke, there being little to no wind to blow it away. The lone Dead one had caught up to us, and had wandered past us in the night, now staggering towards the cliff face. As we watched it shambled up and over the edge, presumably to its doom.

  “Could that be what happened?” Firecracker asked of nobody in particular. “Dead ones in the ocean, eaten by sharks or fish or whatever, that get eaten themselves...until a giant mutant squid?” A chill ran up my spine. It made more sense than radiation, though.

  “Could something similar have happened on land?” Apocalypse Girl asked, also of nobody in particular. I thought of the possible mutated horrors that could be out there and shuddered.

  After this brief period of speculation, we ate and got The Nightmare's engine running, moving along down the road once again, following the coastline as it veered to the north. The path was pretty much clear as far as the eye could see, mind you in perpetual gloom with a light dusting of grey snow the eye could only see so far. Still, we made good time until we saw a station wagon pulled over on the other side of the road, bonnet raised. It was such an odd sight now that we had to stop and check it out.

  noon

  The engine was still warm, as Apocalypse Girl and I discovered, and the interior was loaded up with supplies. Apocalypse Girl tried one door, finding it locked, and I tried another in vain. The boom of a shotgun round fired into the air startled the shit out of us both, and we spun around just in time for the owner of the weapon to lower it straight at my face. As he stood nearly two metres away, I knew I had no chance if he fired.

  “Back away from the wagon, mate,” He warned me. I complied instantly, hands above my head, Apocalypse Girl mirroring my pose. “Now what brings you lot out here?” He asked, pointing the gun almost not quite in my direction. I began to lower my hands, and he moved the gun slightly, so I put them back up.

  “We're trying to get to Canberra, if you really need to know,” The Colonel answered on our behalf, .45 in one hand, to show him she was armed, before holstering it. “We have other guns trained on you right now, so I suggest you put yours away and we can keep this civil.” The man gave a grin, and put his shotgun away. We lowered our hands.

  “So, Canberra, is it?” He mused. “Word is they declared martial law on the second of January, the army is in charge of things there. I only just managed to make it out of Sydney alive myself.” I asked him where he was planning on going. “Not really sure, to be honest. I was considering Adelaide or Melbourne, but maybe somewhere quieter would be a better idea. Or maybe I'll just keep on travelling!” He laughed. “You guys know anything about the fire last night?”

  The Colonel told him about the town of Dead that we had torched, and as she spoke I noticed a small pair of eyes watching me from within the station wagon. The Traveller asked us if we had any fuel that we could spare, his wagon had just run out. He was happy to trade for some food, he told us, and as The Colonel and Redbeard organised a canister for him, he took out a box of supplies from his wagon. Again I saw movement within, though nothing conclusive.

  Apocalypse Girl took me aside, telling me that she was pretty certain he had a little girl locked up in his vehicle. I nodded, adding that I had seen her too. As we made the trade, I told The Traveller of The Followers, and his face paled. “Looks like I'm going to avoid Melbourne after all,” he said. The Colonel asked him if it was just him in the car, and he nodded. Apocalypse Girl's grip on my arm tightened, and I looked her in the eye, shaking my head. This girl, whether The Traveller's daughter or not, was safe with him.

  As we bade The Traveller farewell, I took him aside momentarily to tell him of The School. He asked me why I was telling him, and I simply said that the girl he was with would be better off there, with other kids. They would be better going to The Mech-Techs first of
f, and maybe trading the wagon for a ride to The School, but as long as they avoided the northern side of Melbourne they should be alright. We shook hands, and he jumped into his vehicle and moved off behind us.

  evening

  We had moved down the road another fifteen or so kilometres by nightfall, and set up camp for the evening. The box of food that The Traveller had given us contained a good deal of cans, meat, vegetables, fruit of all varieties. We dined in style, sitting in the back of The Nightmare, an entire can of meat, veg and fruit for each of us. We hadn't eaten so well in weeks, not since The Think Tank was destroyed. Taped to the top of the box was a drawing, clearly done by a child's hand, of the station wagon, The Traveller, and Apocalypse Girl and I, with a note saying “Thanks for the fuel” written in crayon.

  After dinner, as I lay in the back with Apocalypse Girl, she asked me if I thought we had really done the right thing with The Traveller and his daughter. I told her that he had clearly been trying to protect her, even from us, and wouldn't let any harm come to her.

  “Do you think we'll see them again?” She asked me sleepily. I told her that we would, they'd make it to The School and we will find them there again.

  March 25 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Nothing much on the road this morning, other than a few abandoned vehicles, most of which had already been picked apart by hungry survivors, perhaps The Traveller and his daughter had been among them. Mere days away from our goal at our current rate of travel, the prospects of meeting a large military presence daunted most of us. Only The Colonel seemed unaffected by the idea.

  At least today we were unable to see the ocean clearly, that had been far too disturbing to contemplate on top of everything else. The snow was falling more heavily today which I assume meant that the weather was indeed getting colder. It was hard to tell, none of us being used to sub-zero temperatures at all, we were all simply fucking cold whenever we left the cozy confines of The Nightmare.

  We had to top up the fuel tanks with everything contained within the spare canisters, even then the tanks were only about one-quarter full apiece. If we didn't find some soon, we would have to walk the rest of the way...that would mean a journey of mere days turning to weeks, and in deepening snow...we would not likely survive that.

  noon

  That's it, then. We're officially screwed. We're out of fuel. The Colonel and Redbeard have gone on ahead, on foot, taking the cans with them, just in case there is a service station, or a truck stop, even cars to siphon...though it seemed most of those had already been emptied, at least from previous experience on the roads. The Colonel's last words before they headed off were “If we're not back by nightfall, we probably won't be. It's up to you guys if you continue on to Canberra, head back to Melbourne, whatever, in that case. Anyway, if we don't make it back, it's been a pleasure, and an honour.” She saluted us, then turned, gathered up all of her wrappings, and she and Redbeard went off into the grey wastes, disappearing behind a flurry of snow within minutes.

  Firecracker's eyes glistened with tears unshed, turning to Sister for support. Apocalypse Girl just looked at me, the look saying that we had almost certainly said farewell to more good friends. What was left unsaid was that if The Colonel and Redbeard don't come back...well it's a toss-up as to which gets us first, the Cold or the Dead.

  evening

  Looks like it'll be the Dead. A whole bunch of them turned up around mid-afternoon, from the direction our companions had gone. I had to hold Apocalypse Girl back from jumping into the roof turret and blasting a whole bunch of them away, telling her that she'd kill all of us if she did that. Our only hope now was for the Dead to not notice us and just move on, this meant making as little noise as possible.

  After nightfall I heard a scraping on the roof of The Nightmare, and quietly as I could manage slipped up into the turret, sword at the ready. Sensing motion I sliced, only for my target to duck under my blade and say in a forced whisper “What the fuck are you doing you fool?” It was Redbeard, The Colonel just behind him. They stripped off the outer layers of Dead-entrail-encrusted rags they had used as a disguise, throwing them into the horde, before slipping inside.

  Apparently what had happened was they had found a service station, filled up the spare canisters easily enough, and then the Dead arrived. They had just enough time to hole up inside the cashier's office, leaving the fuel outside, and The Colonel, remembering Firecracker's idea, snagged and disemboweled a Dead one, coating their rags with gore that masked their Living scent. I asked exactly how much farther down the road this service station was, for The Colonel to say with a wry smile that if we hadn't traded fuel to The Traveller that we would have easily made it.

  March 26 Year 1 A.Z.

  morning

  Many, but hardly all, of the Dead had moved on by morning. Not any where near enough of them had left for us to risk grabbing one, they were far too densely packed for that, nor were we particularly wanting to eviscerate a Dead one where we eat and sleep. If we used our guns to thin their numbers, we would only attract those that had left and be right back where we started.

  No, our only recourse was, once again, to wait. This time, at least, we were able to see them leaving, one or two at a time, getting bored with this idle lump of former warmth and sound that had attracted them yesterday. They were not leaving fast enough to suit us, however, and our patience was wearing very fucking thin.

  Sister took up her bow and remaining arrows, I pulled out my blade, and we both went up to the roof. Any within reach of my sword fell into the grey snow, never to rise again, and Sister took a dozen down with her bow before she ran out of ammunition. Then we ducked back inside. It didn't really make that much difference, but it felt a bit better actually doing something.

  noon

  At the very least we had plenty of food with us, so we ate a hearty lunch as the last few Dead shambled off into the snow. All six of us would head off to the service station, as there were five canisters and at least one of us would need to have a weapon free, just in case.

  The Colonel had been correct in her assessment, had we not traded with The Traveller, we would certainly have made it here with the fuel we had. As it was, we were trudging through the snow for maybe ten minutes before coming across it. Redbeard carried two canisters, so Apocalypse Girl and I were left to cover the rest of the group, she with pistol drawn, I with katana.

  A few Dead had managed somehow to turn around and had come between us and The Nightmare once again, but I cut those down with little difficulty and we began the task of pouring fuel into the tanks. Apocalypse Girl called out for me softly from the rear of The Nightmare, and when I reached her I swore under my breath. “I know...” she whispered. “What are we going to do?”

  The entire horde from last night seemed to have turned around and were shambling slowly in our direction once more, the deeper snow slowing them down a lot, but they would reach us in minutes and Redbeard was just now moving the third tank into position. I told him to forget it, put them all back into The Nightmare for now, as we had to get to the service station before we, and it, were overrun.

  The Colonel took the rear gun, I jumped up into the turret, and we began blasting chunks of Dead flesh away as Apocalypse Girl got The Nightmare moving. We made it to the service station in barely a minute, giving us a decent amount of time, twenty to thirty minutes at least, to fill the tanks up.

  Redbeard began siphoning the fuel from the underground tanks while Apocalypse Girl, grinning evilly, drew a line with highly combustible materials away from the service station. She was done in two minutes, Redbeard finished in fifteen, and the Dead were sighted in twenty.

  Sister and Firecracker in the cab of The Nightmare waited for The Colonel and Redbeard to board, driving a short way down the road from Apocalypse Girl and I while she waited for just the right moment to set fire to the line of petroleum.

  The flame jumped to life, melting snow to water, then vapour, as it sped towards its int
ended destination, the well-soaked rags descending into the underground fuel tanks. We leaped up into The Nightmare as Firecracker moved us off as fast as she dared to get as much distance between us and the explosion that lit up the gloomy day like a miniature sun.

  evening

  We were elated that we had managed, once again, to survive where we had thought it an impossibility. I couldn't help but feel that one day our luck wouldn't hold. On the other hand, we had weathered the winter well enough so far, we knew enough about how to deal with the Dead that infested the lands, maybe our survival was more due to skill and knowledge now, rather than the blind luck that had driven alongside Apocalypse Girl and I as we had fled Adelaide, accompanied us through our stay at the commune and had helped The Smart Couple find us.

  No, we would make it to Canberra safely, I was pretty sure of that. We would find an armed encampment, but that was to be expected. Everywhere the Living were now was an armed encampment, it was impossible to avoid with shambling Dead wanting to eat you.

  March 27 Year 1 A.Z.